Irwin Mitchell Abogados Act In First Case Of Its Kind In Spain

Employment law specialists from Irwin Mitchell’s Malaga office have won a landmark judgment in relation to the first case of a collective dismissal in a public administration approved by a judge to take place in Spain.

Experts from the Irwin Mitchell abogados successfully represented the Town Hall of Estepona in the case, after the public administration became the sole administration to reduce its workforce without an agreement with the employees’ representatives.

Legislation in the country had previously permitted collective dismissals in companies, but changes brought in earlier this year opened the door for government-run organisations such as public administrations to also make such moves.

Approving the Town Hall of Estepona’s case for collective dismissal, the Judge ruled that all of the necessary formalities had been met and the organisation had provided sound organisational and economic reasons for the decision.

Francisco Garcia, the associate abogado who represented the Town Hall said: “This is a historic case in Spain and was not an easy decision to make for the Judge involved or the Town Hall itself. Collective dismissal is a very sensitive matter however in today’s economic climate, not only in Spain, is a reality for many businesses and organisations to continue to operate.

“These changes will also have an impact in the way public administrations are run in Spain, meaning they will start to be run more like larger companies and will have to consider their long-term plans and how they can best operate.”